Bold Siddaramaiah set to live his dream

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It took this “opening batsman” three decades to take over as the skipper after he endured a couple of so-near-yet-so-far episodes.
With his trademark baritone, Mr Siddaramaiah played the role of an “opening batsman”, a moniker handed to him by senior leaders of the erstwhile Janata Party in early 80s, casting his spell on the audience at election rallies till the likes of late chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde and H.D. Deve Gowda arrived on the venue. “He’s a great orator, so from the beginning it was his duty to speak first as he had the ability to keep the audiences spell-bound,” says R.V. Deshpande, who, like Mr Siddaramaiah, was a member of the Janata Parivar and later joined the Congress. Both were elected to the Legislative Assembly first in 1983 and were Cabinet colleagues in three governments.
With a flair for numbers and a remarkable memory, Mr Siddaramaiah holds a record of presenting seven budgets over the years. His colleagues recount his ability to reel off figures of funds earmarked for various departments, for introducing VAT in Karnataka and exempting Kannada films from entertainment tax.
Though he was certain of making it as captain of the Congress government after the recent elections to the Legislative Assembly, he merely remarked “I leave it to the high command (about electing him as chief minister).”
He was elected deputy chief minister twice — first in 1996 and later in 2004 — but missed out being the chief minister, and had to wait till 2013 to occupy the coveted post.
Born in a poor farmer’s family in Siddaramanahundi, near Mysore, Mr Siddaramaiah has no inkling of his date of birth. Apparently, a school master entered it as August 12, 1948, in the records. So, his supporters celebrate his birthday on August 12 on the basis of his school records. He is the first member of his family to graduate with a degree in science from Mysore University followed by a degree in law. He joined politics in 1978 and was elected to the Mysore taluk board and then to the Assembly in 1983.
Though it was Ramakrishna Hegde who appointed him as chairman of Kannada watchdog committee and later appointed him as minister in early ‘80s, Mr Siddaramaiah shifted his allegiance to Mr Deve Gowda and remained his camp-follower till he was dethroned as deputy chief minister in 2006 following differences over his involvement with AHINDA, a forum for backward classes, minorities and dalits.